Report: Senators Briefed on How FBI Cracked Shooter's iPhone

The agency reportedly briefed Sen. Dianne Feinstein, but Apple is not on its invite list.

The FBI is ready to share its iPhone hacking secrets—but not with Apple.

The agency reportedly briefed senators, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), about how it cracked an iPhone 5c used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), who is working with Feinstein on a new bill to limit the use of encryption in consumer technology, has also been offered an update, according to the National Journal and reported by CNET.

As their legislation suggests, the lawmakers maintain that Apple should not be apprised of how the feds broke into Farook's phone.

"I don't believe the government has any obligation to Apple," Feinstein said in a statement published by the National Journal.

"No company or individual is above the law, and I'm dismayed that anyone would refuse to help the government in a major terrorism investigation," she added.

Prior to the FBI gaining access to the iPhone, it insisted that the only way to do so would be to have Apple create an alternative, encryption-cracking version of iOS. But Apple CEO Tim Cook argued that would be a slippery slope since the workaround would inevitably end up in the wrong hands.

After the FBI last month broke into the iPhone and withdrew its case against Cupertino, Apple said it "will continue to help law enforcement with their investigations, as we have done all along, and we will continue to increase the security of our products as the threats and attacks on our data become more frequent and more sophisticated."

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Apple, Feinstein, and Burr did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment; an FBI spokesman declined to comment.

The senators' draft legislation, expected to be introduced as soon as this week, gives federal judges the authority to order tech companies to help the government crack encrypted data. But according to Reuters, the bill does not define what organizations would have to do, or the circumstances under which their assistance may be required.

Editor's Note: This story was updated at 1:10 p.m. Eastern with a response from the FBI.

Stephanie began as a PCMag reporter in May 2012. She moved to New York City from Frederick, Md., where she worked for four years as a multimedia reporter at the second-largest daily newspaper in Maryland. She interned at Baltimore magazine and graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (in the town of Indiana, in the state of Pennsylvania) with a degree in journalism and mass communications.
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